From Intern to Researcher: How LOTUS Shaped My Master's Thesis Experience

Denis Elster is currently pursuing a Master's degree in Psychology at Johannes Gutenberg-Universit?t Mainz . He joined Lotus Tech Innovation Centre GmbH as an intern and during his internship, he discovered valuable research questions that he could use for his thesis. In this interview, Denis talks about his thesis topic, research method, the support he received from the company, and his overall internship experience.

Q: Did you have any rough ideas for your thesis before you joined the company? For example, from your university, or from other sources.

Denis: No, I did not have any ideas before joining the company. However, during my internship, we worked on some internal projects that led me to discover interesting research topics. One such project developed a presentation on the topic of Digital Product Passports which I found very intriguing. I saw a lot of potential for this topic not just for Lotus but for the entire industry.

Q: Could you introduce your topic and your research method?

Denis: My master thesis is about the empirical determination of properties of a Digital Product Passport in the automotive Sector with a focus on sustainability. I am determining the properties of a digital product passport using an automotive sustainability assessment model. This model has four dimensions and 25 factors. Although there is already initial research and projects on this topic from the company's point of view, my thesis focuses on the user's point of view. From the pre-study, I found that seven factors, located in the environmental, resource, and social dimensions, were most important to respondents. I will use these seven factors for my main study in which I will apply a Conjoint Analysis to find out the utility scores of the sustainability dimensions and each of the seven factors. In simple terms, a Conjoint Analysis is a multivariate method for predicting customer preferences and purchasing behaviour.

Q: What kind of support have you received from the company regarding your thesis?

Denis: I have received a lot of support from the Advanced User and Product Research team. Dr. Anna P?tzold is my official supervisor from the company, and I can contact her daily for support. Dr Dr. Thomas V?hringer-Kuhnt and Bilal Khan also support me in my thesis. We have regular reviews of my work on a weekly basis, where we discuss my progress and plan further steps.

Q: How would you rate this internship and master thesis experience for you?

Denis: This internship has given me very valuable insights into the application of my studies in the industry. Human factors are not a common field of research, so I was unsure how I could use my studies to further my professional career. Working at LTIC has given me the opportunity to see the possibilities of using this master’s program in different fields. Thanks to Anna and Bilal, I had the opportunity to work on many different topics and projects, participate in lots of meetings and get to know the work of a UX Researcher in many different aspects. This gave me a great insight into the work of a UX researcher, which is something that a purely theoretical university study misses out on.

We wish Denis the best of luck with his thesis work, and we hope that Lotus has been a great experience for him. LTIC regularly has positions available for interns and working students. If you are interested, please visit our career page for the latest job openings.